Dell, Buyers Must Arbitrate Defect Claims: 3rd Circ.

Law360, New York (January 20, 2012, 7:19 PM EST) -- The Third Circuit on Friday ruled that a putative class of customers must arbitrate, not litigate, product defect claims against Dell Inc., even though the arbitration forum named in Dell's terms and conditions is no longer available.

In a published opinion, the three-judge panel vacated and remanded a New Jersey federal court's 2010 decision finding that arbitration was not appropriate in light of a settlement with the Minnesota attorney general that barred the National Arbitration Forum from conducting consumer arbitration. The panel said the terms and...